3. Grafting is an ancient technique, especially with fruit crops
In vegetable (cucurbits), it was briefly described in a 17th century book written by
Hong (1643 - 1715)
The production of grafted vegetable plants was first begun in Japan and Korea in
the late 1920s with watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) grafted onto pumpkin (Cucurbita
moschata) rootstock (Lee 1994)
Soon after, watermelons (Citrullus lanatus) were grafted onto bottle gourd
(Lagenaria siceraria) rootstocks
Eggplant (Solanum melongena) was grafted onto scarlet eggplant (Solanum
integrifolium Poir.) in the 1950s
Later, grafting was introduced to North America in the late 20th century
Now common in Asia, parts of Europe and the Middle East (Davis et al. 2008)
4. What is Grafting ??????
Grafting is a method of asexual propagation where two
living plant parts (the rootstock and scion) are united
together to grow as a single plant.
Grafting is a propagation method where
the tissue of two plants are fused together.
The bottom part of the plant that contributes
roots and support is called the rootstock.
The upper part contributing leaves, flowers,
fruits and stems, is called the scion. Graft
Union
Rootstock
Scion
or
8. Rootstock and method of grafting in different
vegetable crops
Sl.
No.
Vegetable Rootstock Method of grafting
1 Watermelon Squash & bottle gourd Cleft & tongue approach
grafting
2 Cucumber Squash & fig leaf gourd Splice & tongue approach
grafting
3 Melon Squash for oriental melon and
melon for other melon
Splice and tongue
approach grafting
4 Tomato wild species of tomato do
5 Brinjal Brinjal and wild species do
6 Pepper Pepper & wild relative Splice grafting
10. Grafting inVegetable Plants
Step-by-Step
Choose scion and rootstock
Construct healing chamber
Sowing the seed
Choose best time to graft
Make the grafts
Move grafts to healing chamber
Acclimate the grafts to normal conditions
11. Best time to graft
When seedlings have 2-4
true leaves
Stems are 1.5-2
millimeters
Early morning or just after
dark when water stress is
low
Should be done indoors or
under shade device
12. Make the graft
Sanitation anti-microbial soap, latex
gloves and sterile tools
Graft at 45-degree angle
Use rubber or silicon clip
Locate the graft above the cotyledon
to prevent adventitious roots
14. Screen house
• Used for growing seedlings prior to grafting
• Should be constructed with 60-mesh nylon net
• Arrange double door
• The upper half of the structure should be covered with a
separate UV resistant polyethylene to prevent UV light
penetration
15. Steps before grafting for proper union
of rootstock and scion
Expose the scion and root stock to sunshine for 2-3 days
Withhold water from the plants to avoid spindly growth
Make sure that the scion and rootstock have stems of similar diameter
The scion and rootstock to come into contact, by maximum area of cut
surface
17. • Selecting matching size of scion and rootstock is important in this
grafting procedure
• Grafting clips should also be selected according to the size. Too large
clips cannot hold the grafted union together, or too small clips gives too
much pressure and may deform the union
• Make sure that the prepared rootstocks do not have auxillary bud at
the base of remaining cotyledonary leaf. Rootstock grow-outs in the
field is a “must avoid” situation
Key for success
19. Hole Insertion/Top Insertion Grafting
Most popular in cucurbits
When scion and rootstock have hollow hypocotyls,
this method is preferred (Hang et al., 2005)
One person can produce 1,500 or more grafts/day
20. Root stock & Scion material Making a hole for the scion
Inserting the scion in rootstockSecuring the joint with the clip
Preparation of scion
21. One-Cotyledon/Splice Grafting Method
Originally developed for grafting robot
It is applicable to most vegetables
Easy to learn for beginners
Suitable for mass production
Need scion stem size to be similar as possible to
rootstock size
Grafting without roots is optional
22. Root stock & Scion material
Securing the joint with the clip Joining the root stock & Scion
Preparing the root stock & Scion
23. Tongue Approach/Approach Grafting
• Most widely used by farmers and small nurseries
• Requires more space and labor compared to other
methods
• High seedling survival rate can be attained even by
beginners
• Grafted seedlings have a uniform growth rate
• Not suitable for rootstocks with hollow hypocotyls
24. Root stock & Scion material Preparing root stock & scion
Joining the scion to the rootstockSecuring the joint with a grafting strip
25. It is similar to slant grafting except
that in this method root stock &
scion joined are held with an
elastic tube instead of clips
It is more popular in tomato,
brinjal
Tube Grafting
26. Angle of cut Clip attachment Scion insertion Provide good contact
between the rootstock
and the scion.
Tube Grafting Technique
27. Cleft grafting
It is a simple and easy method
It is suitable for rootstocks with wide hypocotyls
Can be practiced in all vegetables
28. Eggplant: Cleft Method
Selection of rootstock Preparation of rootstock Preparation of scion
Grafted plant Joining rootstock & rootstock
29. Pin Grafting
It is also same as the slant grafting
In this instead of grafting clips, to hold the grafted
position, specially designed pins are used
The ceramic pin is nearly about 15mm long and
0.5mm in diagonal width of the hexagonal cross-
section
Design pin are used to hold the graft union, i.e.;
ceramic pin
31. Micro -grafting
Micro ex- plant are used less than 1/1000th mmᵌ
To eliminate virus infection
Determine the chemical basis of cell-to-cell contact
Used in herbaceous plant to evaluate the
physiology of grafting
32. Healing and acclimatization
• Shade place sheltered from wind to avoid wilting of the grafted
plants
• Grafted plants usually heal and acclimatized in plastic tunnel.
• After the grafting, the grafted plants were kept at 28-30 ͦC and
with more than 95% relative humidity for three days of healing
• Recommended to keep light levels at about 3-5 lux
• Used for formation of better graft union
• In this chamber grafts should be kept for 5-7 days
35. Acclimatization chamber
Used for hardening the grafted seedling
prior to transplanting and to prevent leaf
burning and wilting of the just healed
seedlings
Grafted seedling take 7 to 10 days for
acclimatization as hardening treatment
37. Monitoring grafting success
Measurement of electrical resistance (minimum
res. means success)
Thermal imaging of leaf temperature
Assessment of hydraulic connection by
displacement transducer (upward water
movement)
Electrical wave transmission (successful means
wave is present)
39. Robotic grafting…?
Consist of functional component-feeding wheels, gripping hands, conveying wheels,
cutters, fixing clipper, discharge hand, programmable controller and power supply
One cycle time from feeding nursery plants to releasing a grafted nursery plant requires
about 3 seconds. Successful grafting rate and agglutination rate are 98% and 95%
respectively
The seedling are cut at the point of attachment of the cotyledon to the hypocotyls at an
angle of 10 degree for the scion and 30 degree for the rootstock.
40. The first semiautomatic cucumber grafting system was commercialized in 1993
A simple grafting machine can produce 350–600 grafts/hour with 2 operators,
whereas manual grafting techniques produce about 1,000 grafts / person / day (Gu,
2006)
A fully automated grafting robot performing 750 grafts/hour with a 90-93%
success rate
Cont…
42. Inserting the
rootstock into the
tube
Inserting
the scion
into the tube
Finished
Moving the
scion to
grafting position
Cutting the scionChucking the scion
Putting the scion
into the
chuck by operator
Cutting the
rootstock
Moving the
rootstock
to grafting position
Putting the
rootstock chuck
by operator
Chucking the
rootstock
Feeding the tube Cutting the tube Moving the tube to
grafting position
The flowchart of the robotic grafting process
Rootstock processing
Tube preparing
Scion processing
Tubing- grafting
47. 1. Expose the scions and rootstocks to sunlight for 2 to 3 days before
grafting
2. Drying of the potted soil where the scion and rootstock grow by
controlled watering to avoid spindly growth
3. Scion and rootstock with similar diameters are important to
increase the survival rate
• Keep 100% RH for 3 days and then gradually reduce the humidity
• Keep the light intensity at 3-5 k lux
For a high survival rate in grafting…
Before grafting :
After Grafting :
48. Raised beds and shelters
Raised beds are highly recommended to
minimize flooding
Clear polyethylene covered on raised
beds can be used to protect the field
plants from direct impact of heavy
rainfall
Transplanting depth
The graft union should be placed above
soil line while transplanting
Sucker and adventitious root
removal
Timely removal of suckers developed
from the rootstock after transplanting
Field management of grafts
49. Grafted plants should be staked two to three weeks after
transplanting
This will prevent vines from sliding down and the scion stem
contacting the soil
Water management
Plants with eggplant rootstocks require higher soil moisture
than non-grafted tomato plants
50. Tomato
Potato
POMATO
Pomato plant is a result
of grafting of tomato on
potato plants
We can reap tomatoes
on the top of the plant and
potatoes under the soil
56. B- Bigred alone
BH- Bigred on Heman
BP- Bigred on Primavera
BB- Bigred self graft
Effect of grafting on yield of tomato cultivar Bigred
Khah et al., 2006
57. Effect of the scion on fusarium disease
incidence of the grafted melon
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
40 50 60 70 80
Ein Dor
Ein Dor/Brava
Ofir
Ofir/Brava
Wiltincidence%
Days after planting
Dias et al., 2002
58. Effect of the rootstock on fusarium disease
incidence of the grafted melon
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
50 60 70 75 80 100
non-grafted Ofir
Ofir/Brava
Oifr/Orca
Ofir/Adir
Ofir/TZ148
Wiltincidence(%)
Days after planting Dias et al., 2002
59. Accumulated yield of grafted and non grafted melons
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
75 80 85 90 95 100
Non grafted Ofir
Ofir/Adir
Ofir/Brava
Ofir/TZ 148
Ofir/Orca
Fruityield(Kg/10m2)
Days after planting Dias et al., 2002
63. Estimated yield and partial net return per plant
0.77
3.17
5.36
23.95
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Yield
(Kg/plant)
Net return
($/plant)
Nongrafted ‘Brandywine’
‘Brandywine’ grafted onto
‘Multifort'
64. Miguel et al., 2004
Different attributes affected by grafting on different
rootstocks in watermelon
65. • More labor required
• High cost of grafted seedlings
• Fruit quality could be down: not all
rootstocks are good
• Special care is required
• Additional charge of transplanting in
case of cucurbits
• It can be overcome by the heavy yields
Disadvantages of Grafting
66. • Maintenance of popular cultivar against
diseases and others
• Ease of producing organically grown
vegetable
• With the invention of robot grafting and
acclimatization facilities, the price of
grafted seedlings considerably reduced
• Grafting of vegetables may be useful in
the low input sustainable horticulture of
the future
Future prospects
